One of the more interesting buildings at Watford Gap, between Shenstone and Sutton – the Tin Tabernacle. Image by Anthony Dixon and posted on Geograph under a creative commons license.
Here’s a quick question, asked of me today by the redoubtable Linda Mason. On the border between the modern counties of the West Midlands and Staffordshire, right on the edge of Little Aston/Hill Hook, is a junction on the Old Birmingham Road. This junction is where Blake Street and Watford Gap Road intersect. It’s called ‘Watford Gap’.
Current Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger mapping, showing the position of Watford Gap on the very edge of the West Midlands Connurbation. Click for a larger version.
There is, of course, a more famous namesake, more popularly known as being the location of a motorway service station, in Northamptonshire. The one we’re interested sits right on the new border, but was once in Warwickhire.
The question is, how did it get its name? There don’t seem to be any Watfords nearby; but this is an old, old place that was mentioned on coaching routes and Victorian maps. Mile posts and markers mention it repeatedly; it was clearly considered a significant place.
The question is why, and how did this place get it’s name? Does anyone know?
1884 1:2,500 Ordnace Survey map of Watford Gap. Click for a larger version.
Cheers, everyone. That’ll be BrownhillsBob at Googlemail dot com, or comment here, please.